Hard Candy
by mikata-chan
Summary: When she heard someone up front ask for seasalt ice cream and saw the bush of brown spikes over the top of the aisle, she thought she was going insane, because he'd been gone for five years. But when she saw those blue eyes, she knew. It was him. SorKai
1. Familiar

Disclaimer : Don't own it.

Hard Candy

Prologue : Animation

The woman walked towards her destination in a flurry of snow, her dark red hair making her stick out like a sore thumb amongst the scene of white. Wrapping her arms around her self as the wind picked up and she quickly entered the small store, a smile ready on her lips when she spotted the owner. Walking to the back to retrieve the milk she came for she stopped in her tracks upon seeing a bush of spikes moving on the other side of the aisle. So familiar...

She shook her head and dismissed the idea. _It's not him._

He'd been gone for five years.

She heard one of the freezer doors open and she snapped out of it.

"Do you have sea-salt icecream?" A distinct male voice asked up front. Kairi's heart started to beat faster, she could hear it in her ears. Very few people liked that stuff, or admitted it. It wasn't exactly the most popular treat in Radiant Garden. She knew one boy who had loved it.

But it couldn't be him, because almost everyone believed he was dead. Maybe she was even starting to believe it. But a year ago it hadn't been like that, she had been killing herself with the hope that he would come back. And when day after day he didn't, she began to see him. Everywhere.

"_Don't you get it! He's not coming back." she could only stare into his eyes, bright and angry. Riku hated it when she talked like that, she knew it. And she knew it was probably because he wanted to believe her, because he was angry that his best friend had tried to take on the darkness himself. Kairi let her tears fall._

"_He's alive, I saw him Riku!" Riku looked at the ground._

"_Just.. stop it."_

And between that time and now, everything seemed to put itself back together. She had accepted it. Accepted that she would never see him again. So why was this happening now? She was even feeling happier than she had in a long time. She shook it off and went to get her milk, making a quick purchase and exiting the store. But she was still immersed in her thoughts and she collided with someone.

"Sorry." she said quietly to the man's back.

"It's fine." was the almost weary response and he began to walk away, but something made her call out.

"Wait!" she grabbed his hand and he turned around almost in slow motion. Kairi gasped when she caught sight of the deepest sapphire orbs she'd ever seen. She _knew_ those eyes. But at the same time she didn't, there was something almost wintry about them now. Something that ironically matched the weather they we standing in.

"Sora?" she whispered. The man looked at her and then at the engagement ring on her finger. He let go of her hand and she called again. "Sora? Is it you?" His answer was almost sorrowful.

"No, Sorry." With that he left her, and she let him.

(A/N : This has been on my mind for forever! I had to get it out of my system. I don't know if I'll continue though, right now I'm thinking there's a 50/50 chance. But of course I love to hear from anyone who read this. Whether you loved it, hated it or saw some things I should improve on, input is appreciated. Adios.)


	2. Hidden

She couldn't get the image of the man out of her mind, even as her feet began to freeze with her trek through the snow. The snow piled into her shoes as she made her way home, as it sped up from a speckled flutter to a white flood. She hated the winter, she was used to the climate on the islands. She _enjoyed_ that weather. She could feel her toes in the sand as she thought about her former home, she could feel the waves licking at her knees and she could feel Sora's nervousness as he leaned his forehead against hers...

She just knew he was going to do something stupid. She just knew it.

_Faintly purple eyes darted back and forth from the sea to the frowning boy. The wind had her hands fighting with her hair and spitting it out of her mouth. But she could still see the edges of his mouth raise at her fuss through the bothersome veil of red. _

"_Kairi." His tone was a bit too serious. She turned to him, alarmed to see the tone match his face. Sora? Serious? _

"_What's wrong?" He looked away from her, eyes flicking to the red sun on the horizon to his feet, as if either one could provide the answer for him. "Sora?" she was starting to get worried. He turned his back on her and looked toward the tree house before he started to speak. Kairi frowned._

"_Uh...nevermind. It's getting kinda late, we should probably go in. Math test tomorrow." She frowned when he actually started to walk away._

"_Sora." He stopped and she stared at his back, feeling her throat tighten. "Don't go." His shoulders tensed and they both seemed to realize her words worked for another reason entirely. He still had his back to her and he began to protest. But she was having none of it._

"_What? You're in a hurry to hit the books Sora? Get ten hours of sleep?" She was joking with him, but she was the first to find it wasn't funny at all. All she'd done was expose a sorry excuse for exactly what it was. Sora didn't study. And Sora was always the one showing up to school with droopy eyes and always the one caught drooling on his desk. He turned around and slowly made his way over to her, eyes still avoiding her. She put a hand on his shoulder, surprised by how high she now had to reach. "What's going on?" And she wanted to be strong for him, but she knew he could see right through her. As dense as he usually was.Don't go. Please don't go._

"_I..." He took her hand off of his shoulder and into his larger one, doing the same with the other one. She let her fingers curl into his, finding his hands were not as soft as they used to be. "Kairi." He looked as if he might be searching carefully for the right words."You know I'll always be there for you right?" His adam's apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed and Kairi wondered offhandedly when he'd gotten one._

_The words were familiar and brought her to a place she didn't want to go back to. He leaned his forehead against hers, as if she needed another reason for her heart to be doing acrobatics. She looked into his eyes, bright and solemn above her. She realized she couldn't bring herself to look into them any longer, but she didn't want to move, so she just settled for staring at his mouth._

"_Sora, I know. And you know you always have us, right? You'll always have... me." And then he smiled, one of those big cheesy ones. She could nearly count every tooth. It reminded her of the determination in him that she'd always admired, the cheer in the face of adversity, the naivete. His breath was shaky and gentle against her face and for one moment she thought that maybe he would..._

"_I know." he said. And maybe she was the naive one, because she had believed that smile, the smile she'd never seen again, the smile that in that moment was the biggest lie he'd ever told her._

She hurried home and entered her apartment still thinking about that suspicious sapphire she'd seen no where else. As soon as she stepped foot inside her thankfully, heated apartment she put her shoes neatly in the closet. She hung her coat up and looked around, happy to see everything was pretty much in order. It was never much of an issue before, but over the years she started to really appreciate having an order to things.

Her nose picked up on a wonderful smell and she frowned. She didn't remember anything cooking. _Damnit!_ She heard an exclamation and in the kitchen and made her way there. Walking slowly to the kitchen, Kairi was surprised to see a familiar man beating on her stove.

"Riku?" He looked up from what he was doing, his mouth in a tight line. He ran a hand through his hair, clearly frustrated. He seemed to be quite consumed with whatever he was doing and he continued to pummel the stove, now with a few expletives thrown in here and there. "Nice apron." That got his attention and he looked up quickly, a look of surprise barely registering on his face.

"Thanks. My fiancé picked it out." Kairi smiled.

"Really? She must have great taste." she looked up him through her eyelashes. "You were trying to surprise me." She'd honestly forgotten that it was her 22nd birthday. She supposed that little encounter had distracted her quite a bit. Kairi looked around and noticed the tomato sauce and what looked like half cooked spaghetti. Riku loved it when she joked around, there was a time when he thought he'd never see her smile again.

"You? Sorry, are you hungry?" Kairi pursed her lips.

"Riku..."

"Fine. You caught me, I was trying to surprise you." Riku sighed. "Maybe I would have if that piece of shit-" Kairi laced her fingers into his.

"I'm surprised." He brought her closer.

"Good." he said quietly, leaning down to kiss her softly on the lips. When they pulled apart she was surprised to see her shirt was halfway unbuttoned.

"Riku...?"

"What do you say we skip dinner?" he asked, a mischeivous glint in his eye. Kairi rolled her head back when he found the spot on her neck that made everything go blurry.

"Huh?" He chuckled and kissed her bare shoulder. "Your room? The living room? Right here if you prefer..." She giggled.

"Is that all you think about?" Riku smirked and started on her ear, talking between nibbling.

"No. Sometimes I seriously think about casting firaga on your stove." Kairi laughed again pulling the bow out at the back of his apron. He caught her lips with his again, hoisting her up onto the counter. She smiled, wondering what she would've done without him. If he hadn't stuck with her through their loss, she didn't know where she'd be. Suddenly Riku's cell phone went off. They both groaned and Riku gave her an apologetic look before opening his phone.

"This _better_ be good." He answered rather rudely, one of his hands sliding beneath her shirt. She swatted him, telling him to pay attention to his call. She busied herself for a few minutes, tasting the sauce he'd prepared. He sighed and closed his phone after what wasn't much of a conversation.

"I'm sorry, Kairi. They need me" she smiled and nodded.

"Okay, it's okay. I'm fine." Riku knew that meant she really wasn't fine.

"Kairi." She looked up at him and he didn't know why he didn't see it before.

"Riku." she said, and she could see him analyzing again. "Don't." He was clearly skeptical and she knew how quickly it could change to sadness, worry, _anger_. Not today. _Not Today. _

"You..." She could see the wheels turning in his head.

"Riku." she said sharply. "Don't." She looked him in the eye and felt like she was telling lies. It had been years since she was in that state. Years since she would wake up everyday and think Sora would be standing at her doorstep. That was in the past, and so was Sora. But she still willingly kept him close to her heart, only that's where her and Riku differed.

After Sora had chosen to leave without telling either of them goodbye, Riku had been devastated. He had been the first one to try and go after Sora, but when that fell apart Riku built his walls higher and became so withdrawn Kairi didn't even recognize him. Then he began to let his anger rule him, do and say stupid, thoughtless things. Thankfully that had passed as well, but he had always carried around what Sora had done as a personal betrayal. And it was rare that he would even speak of his former friend at all. Kairi knew it hurt for him too.

He was healing and Kairi knew these things came in time. After so many bad things had happened and they all had finally accepted things might be alright...and to have it all be blown apart again was a hell of a shock to the system. Things didn't just go right back to normal.

"I'm fine." She smiled and he nodded solemnly.

"Okay. I'll see you later." He kissed her chastely on the cheek before he took his leave. Kairi sighed when she heard the front door close and stared into the pot of spaghetti sauce. She didn't want to be alone right now, she needed something to stop the wheels in her own head. Maybe even to clear them out. But the only person she'd known that could 'not think about anything' was Sora. She sighed, trying to push him out of her head for the time being. But no matter what she did, her thoughts would always stray to him.

So she thought of another method of distraction, trying to 'not think about' him was no way to spend her birthday.

She came in from the cold outside and dusted herself off, patting her rosy cheeks and coat with her fuzzy mittens. For a very spooky moment she could swear everyone in the bar had turned their eyes on her. She knew she didn't look like barfolk, but _damn._ She tugged her coat off and folded it neatly before putting it on a chair with other coats thrown carelessly over it. She heard something that sounded like a quiet snicker and ignored it as she took off her mittens and hat and stacked them neatly on top of her coat. Now she was sure she heard laughter. And just what was so funny?

She strutted her way over to the bar and sat down at the counter, just in time to see someone in a hat and sunglasses disappear into the back room.

"Doesn't Selphie work this shift?"

"Not today little lady, she's out sick." Kairi sighed, making a note to pick up some chicken noodle soup for her after she took her leave. She jumped when the man screamed to one of his employees. "Boy! Get yer ass out here! Customer!" Kairi heard what sounded like quite a bit of glass breaking before the same person in the black hat and dark sunglasses came out and busied himself with fiddling with the sink and scrubbing rather brutally at the dishes. Kairi raised an eyebrow and tore her eyes away from his back to return her attention to the man in front of her.

"Oh, well maybe I should go. I only-"

"Nonsense! You should stay right here!" There was a loud clattering at the sink area and the strange bespectacled person tried to silence it immediately only to have his efforts result in more noise. The fat man sighed.

"He's new."

"Oh."

"And...he's gunna serve you tonight." This time the person in the back let at least five dishes fall to the floor. The man looked at the shattered pieces and sighed.

"Serve the lady, then get a broom, and you're fired." The man went into the back room and Kairi looked expectantly at the stranger in sunglasses.

"I'm sorry." The stranger said nothing. "Um...I'll have water. I don't really drink." He got her water and set it on the bar and Kairi didn't grab her drink, but his wrist.

"Gotcha."

(A/N: So...yeah. It took me forever to figure out if I could add on to this or not. Then it took me an eternity more to figure out how to. Anyway this was more to lay down groundwork and lead into the story and I hope it wasn't to dull. Thanks for your thoughts. I guess it on now. Until next time.)


	3. Phases

The man in the hat and sunglasses stilled. He looked down at the hand around his wrist, then to Kairi. She swallowed down her nerves, hoping that this was indeed who she thought it was and that she hadn't just grabbed some strange man.

"Don't you have anything to say to me?" she asked, trying to catch a hint of sapphire through the dark lenses. The man looked again at her hand around his wrist.

"Would you like some coffee?" Kairi blinked. She just happened to catch the side of his mouth quirk upward. She noticed a faded scar over the bottom lip.

"That's not what I meant and you know it. I know it's you." the man watched her.

"I don't think so. But, we do have a new flavor of coffee, van-" Kairi tightened her grip unconsciously.

" _Sora_." he exhaled, and tried to tug gently out of her grip, obviously reluctant to simply tear out of her hand and hurt her somehow.

"What is a...Sora?" Kairi frowned.

"That isn't funny. Take off the sunglasses, _please_." If she could just see his eyes...

"I can't." she pursed her lips.

"Well, why not?"

"I...have an eye condition." she almost smiled.

"So take off the hat. Unless you have a hair condition too?"

"Actually, I do, it's really embarrassing." he seemed to think for a minute. "And absolutely disgusting." There was a ding from the back. "Your soup is ready." Kairi was reluctant to let go of him. "I have to go get it." he said. She let him go slowly and he rubbed his wrist. He started to move to the back, but before he took his exit he turned towards her again. "You are...so pretty." Kairi felt her cheeks burn and watched as he disappeared behind the swinging door.

Suddenly she heard a great commotion in the back, listening as pots and pans scattered and the manager yelled. _Get back here boy!_ She immediately stood up and made her way to the back, wondering how she could've been so stupid as to let him go. She watched as the man in the hat and shades ran out of the back door and into the winter night, her soup in hand.

She forgot all about her coat an mittens and ran outside after him, the manger's yells still ringing in her ears. This was really low. How could he just up and run? But then again, she supposed it wasn't anything new. The cold air hit her like bolt of lightening and she was instantly sorry she had left her coat. But upon catching sight of the man running farther off into the snow she started off as well.

She pumped her arms and legs as fast she could, her hair whipping around her face and the deepening snow icy and rather solid around her legs. She was tempted to take her heels off and just run in her stockings, but she knew it wouldn't be a wise thing to do. She followed the fast moving black figure through the snow, turning and jumping and slipping right along with him. He was clearly more athletic than she, and in much better shape. The fact that he was taller also helped in jumping the giant hurdles of snow that continued to rise higher as the snow fell.

Her heart was throbbing high in her throat but she continued to wheeze through it, listening as her heels crunched through the snow and her breath came in inconsistent little clouds. She was so out of it that she didn't see him stop before a giant patch of ice and ran right into him, sending them both sliding.

When she came to a stop she looked up to see his hat lying alone on the ice. She looked around miserably, one of her shoes was gone, she was clammy with sweat and melted snow and the man was no where to be found. Suddenly she felt arms around her waist, and was gingerly lifted to her feet. She let her back rest against his chest, happy for any kind of heat. She looked around to find that everything was shrouded in snow, all white. She was never going to see that shoe again. But more importantly...

"Sora..." she was absolutely sure it was him now. She didn't know anyone who would act to positively foolish. She wanted to hit him, maybe even cry a little. But she could only stand there frozen in his arms, her body going numb, at a loss for words. She started to turn around, but he wouldn't let her.

"Don't turn around." he said into her hair.

"Sora, please. I have to..." His arms quivered around her waist, his teeth chattered against her scalp.

"I know this sounds strange. But could you please just pretend you didn't see me? Just pretend this didn't happen."

"Why?"

"It's for the best. Kai, you don't need me around anymore." he tried to convince her.

"How could you say that?"

"Because it's true. Not like this anyway." he sounded so sad.

"What?"

"Never mind, just please do this." Kairi was able to turn around this time. She wasn't surprised to see that familiar head of hair.

"No."

"Kairi, please."

"No." she buried her head into his chest, wrapped her arms around him. "I do need you. So does Riku. You don't know how long I..." she started to get choked up. "I knew you'd come back, and now that you have there's no way I going to just...pretend..." She looked up at him, snatched his glasses away before he could react. And there they were, looking as blue and as impossible as the day she met him. "I knew it. I knew I wasn't some crazy person chasing some strange man through the snow." she laughed and found she couldn't stop, her hands gripping his shirt as her legs started to give out on her. She could still hear laughter, and then there was nothing but white.

She was surprised to find herself waking up at all, she couldn't remember going to sleep. She felt groggy and her muscles felt pinched and not quite thawed. She sat up to find she had been resting on a rather shabby couch. It was old, mostly stuffing and smelled like fish. And it seemed, that it was the only article or furniture in the room. Hm.

"You're up." A voice came from behind her and she turned around to see Sora sitting against the door. Kairi looked around again at the dusty hardwood floor, littered with trash. She shook her head, after all the years that had passed she was still being rescued by him.

She didn't know how she felt about that.

She looked to the fire crackling at the front of the room. "You fainted...or something. So, I mean I didn't know where you live..." She nodded, continued to look around. What a mess. "I couldn't find your shoe." she looked at him again, finding that he did look different. She could even go as far to say that except for his eyes nothing was the same. But even his eyes seemed somehow duller.

She noticed he had let his hair grow out, and despite tying it back, it still appeared incredibly wild. He was taller, broader shouldered and a lot paler. If she were in the mood to be making jokes she would've asked him if in all that time away he'd just been working out.

"You've grown so much." She said solemnly. He chuckled.

"So have you." again, she felt her cheeks burn and didn't know why. Kairi flattened the hem of her skirt over her knees.

"I left my coat and mittens at the bar." he smiled,_ really_ smiled and for a second she saw the Sora she knew.

"I know."

"You know?"

"I saw you take them off and set them neatly on the chair." there was something mocking about his tone.

"What's so funny about it?" she asked, but found herself getting angry. So now she had found him, and she was incredibly grateful for it, but now she had to think about the other issue at hand. _How could you just leave like that?_

"It's just, you took it off and folded it so_ precisely."_

"So that was you laughing at me." he looked at his hands.

"Maybe. Hey, are you hungry?" Kairi realized that she was. He threw her a can and a can opener. She looked at him then set it in her lap and started opening it. She sighed over her half opened can. "Is the opener not working, it does that sometimes."

"No. I'm okay." she said. He watched her over his can.

"I'm sorry about the shoes and the soup." Kairi looked up as she was reminded of something.

"You stole my soup." He looked into his lap.

"I honestly didn't mean to. I just forgot when I-"

"Decided to run." Kairi finished for him.

"I mean, we could go back and I could get you some soup on the house, don't worry about Bill, he fires me everyday..."

"This isn't about the soup Sora." He looked into his can.

"I mean, I didn't expect you to come running after me..." he laughed. She stuffed a forkful of chili into her mouth and swallowed hard.

"How can you joke? This is _anything_ but a joke." That was Sora alright, making fun in a situation like this. Kairi got up with her can of beans, set her tingling feet on the floor. Her stocking were still semi wet. She went over to him. "I'm so happy you here but...I'm _so_...angry with you." She knelt down and tried to put her hand on his shoulder, he took her wrist into a gentle grip before she could.

"Kairi..."

"Sora, why?"

"I..."

"How could you do it?" He looked at her, his eyes bright. And she had a feeling that the were about to meet some opposition.

A/N : So, here's an update. I hope you liked what you read. I know I haven't updated in a while, but thanks for letting me know that there are readers out there. I was pretty sure this one wasn't being read, especially since I took so long. Anyway, hopefully I be able to update this sooner than before. Adios.


	4. Changes

He got up from his place near the door, and immediately a cold wind swept in from under it Kairi shivered, wondering if he'd only been sitting in that spot for her benefit. She grit her teeth, why was it so _hard_ to be angry with him?

"Is your chilli cold? Probably is...I'll see if I can heat it up..." He took her can and headed towards the shabby little kitchen, purposely avoiding her eyes. She was hot on his heels, his sweetness from before forgotten.

"Sora." He turned up the flame on the not so safe looking stove, bits of rust falling to the floor as he turned the knob with a little too much force. "_Sora._" She was on the edge of raising her voice, but she reigned herself in. "Why are you acting this way?" He continued to hold the can with his bare hands over the high flame.

"I...Acting what way?" Kairi narrowed her eyes.

"Evasive, tricky, suspicious...I could go on Sora. But you know, now you're acting like...like..like a big jerk." Kairi was slightly red in the face. This was not how she pictured their reunion if it were to ever happen. Kairi was about to say something else but then a thin whine intercepted her. It started to get higher in pitch, and she wondered what it possibly could be. But once realization dawned it was too late. "Sora don't...!" That was a loud pop, and Kairi was rushing forward. Sora was stumbling back and the can fell to the floor looking like a metal scrap.

She pushed him to the sink and yanked on the tap. The water that came out was brown and disgusting but she pushed his head under the water anyway, Sora still clearly speechless. He sputtered and gasped for air under the brown stream, the air shocked right out of him. Pretty soon he knew he'd be feeling the searing beans burning his face. He felt like such an idiot.

Kairi kept on running her hand through his hair, in an attempt to comfort him. He wasn't over the shock and the pain enough to think about how he'd just been manhandled, but as she stroked his head, he felt her ring dragging across his scalp, a hard interruption of the soft skin of her hand. He bit his lip, trying to raise his head.

"I'm fine now, you can stop."

"No you're not. Just stay under there, the cold water might be a bit much but we have to get those off of your face or the burns will be worse." she said watching the beans wash off of his face an into the sink. She sighed. "Honestly Sora, don't you know better than that?" He thought she might be smiling, but when he turned his head to the side he could see she wasn't.

"I know, I'm an idiot." His voice echoed all around him off of the metal of the sink.

"No, I think I said jerk. You're a jerk." she smiled to herself then, and continued to hold his head under the stream. He slumped, some of the water trailing form his face to his neck down into his shirt.

"I know that too." he said. After about another minute he spoke up again. "Hey, do you think you could stop drowning me?" She turned the water off and he stood up, shaking his head like a dog, much to the displeasure of Kairi, who was directly in his line of fire. She wiped the water from her face rather frantically, and watched him through her messed up hair. He apologized and tried not to smile. She was still insanely cute. Even as a grown woman. The expression on her face softened.

"Now Sora, please tell me what's going on?" she looked so concerned, and even came forward to take his face into her hands, fussing over the burns. He was sure in a week he'd be just fine. He flinched when she touched his face and she immediately took them away, apologizing. "You're skin must be raw."

"Ye..yeah that's it..." She crossed her arms.

"But you know, if you had just answered the question you wouldn't be all burned up."

"I think I should dry..." Kairi blocked the door.

"Oh no you don't." Sora clenched his teeth.

"Kairi, can't you just leave it alone?" She frowned.

"Leave it alone?" She tapped her fingers on the inside of the doorway. "Because it's so easy isn't it?"

"Listen, I just want to protect-"

"I don't need you to protect me anymore!" she raised her voice, and they were both surprised. He frowned, he didn't like that she would say something like that after everything, and despite himself, he hated that it might be true. He turned his back to her.

"You're right." she bit her lip at his unexpected response. "Like I said, you don't need me around anymore. I'm not right for any of it, you know?" She didn't know what he was talking about. "I have never been right for it." He laughed. "What am I talking about?! I'm sorry Kai."

"Sora."

"I went alone because, I didn't want to involve you guys anymore okay? Is that good enough?" Kairi was kind of thrown off by the sudden duality she'd never seen so extreme in Sora before.

"No, no it's not." she touched his back and again he flinched. "What happened to you Sora?" he exhaled.

"Kairi, light doesn't just exist, someone has to...I don't know...turn it on. Darkness is a little different. No matter what, it will always be there, in the absence of the light. Darkness is, if you think about it...the most natural thing in the world. There is no escape, and no way to fix that. It's like trying to escape the sun or something." He stopped. "Haha." Kairi was wary. "Funny thing is, I bet you and Riku and everyone and their mother knew that, or realized that at some point or another. But not me. I believed I could make it go away, mighty wielder of the keyblade that I am..." he laughed. "...it's bullshit."

Kairi blinked.

"Sora, I..."

"If I could do it again, I would still do it the same way. I will never drag my friends into a mess like that again. Never."

"Don't pretend like you're doing us some favor." even through her shock she was sticking to her guns. "We would rather have gone with you, and fought by your side than be clueless, be wondering whether you were alive or dead, or worse! It's our world too and if we can fight for it then we will." She looked at his back. "We can you know. You're so used to saving me, you forget that I'm strong too." It felt like something she'd wanted to say for a long time, and at the same time it felt like such a lie. Because she was used to it too, and even now he was saving her in some way or another. "There was no reason for you to go into it alone. So don't think you're sparing me anything, you and I had our destinies written before we could even know what they would mean. And as long as your journey continues, so does mine."

He turned around.

"You don't understand." he ruffled his hair, as he often did when he was frustrated. "Things have changed." She licked her dry lips.

"Exactly. That's exactly what I'm saying Sora. We have all changed. And Riku..." Sora looked up, his eyes wide.

"How is he?"

"Healing." Kairi looked away, trying to keep her composure. "Do you know what you've done, by just leaving? Do you?" Sora looked incredibly guilty. "It got really bad Sora, really bad. Things would have been so much better if you had trusted us. They would have been better for all of us, we could have protected eachother."

"It's not that easy." he said, his cheeks burning.

"It is _never_ easy Sora. We _all_ know that." Kairi looked into his eyes. "Oh, Sora. did it really take me harassing you, chasing you through the snow and a can of beans exploding in your face for you to just talk to me?"

"I guess so." Kairi knew there was a lot he still wasn't telling her, but decided it was enough for now. She hoped she had gotten her point across.

"You should go see Riku." Sora snapped his head up.

"No. I'm sorry Kairi, but I can't. It's best that I don't."

"Sora, I'm not playing around with you." she shook her finger at him, and he was reminded of his mother. His mother, it had been an eternity since he'd seen her.

"You don't get it Kai." he touched her face, ignored the heat he felt in his hands and in his stomach. "I ca-" she covered his mouth with her hand.

"Just shut up okay?" she laughed. "I never seen you be so hard on yourself and simultaneously ridiculous." She jumped when he softly bit her hand. She's nearly forgotten Sora was the type to weird things like that. Things that made the air suddenly awkward, things that made him fidgety and strange around her. But that was the past, and maybe this man in front of her was different, maybe he was surer of himself. But as he let her hand drop back down to her side, she could see that he wasn't. Sora's eyes darted around for an explanation, and she got up on her toes and gave him one, like she hadn't just kissed Riku some hours earlier, like his ring wasn't currently sparkling on her finger. Kairi covered his mouth with hers, and he started to kiss her back, as if it were the only natural option, but then he stopped.

"Kairi, no." His mouth said no but one of his fingers was moving in lazy circles on the bare skin of her lower back underneath her shirt. It excited her in a way she knew it shouldn't. It excited her to think that they could be back on the shore again, in the midst of a relationship clearly in bloom.

His hand moved higher, and he watched her with deadly serious eyes, strangely bright under their hungry shadows, like the heartless that still haunted so many dreams.

"It's not a good a idea." Kairi tried to pretend like she didn't feel or like the presence of his hand against her skin. She met his gaze, their breathing nearly in sync. She reach back and put her hand over his, stopping it.

"You're right." It was so hard to stop him, to stop herself from kissing him again. Because something in her realized that if she tried again he would accept her, and things could progress to a potentially dangerous level. She needed to let go of the past, but it was infinitely harder to do that when it suddenly fell into her life again. He nodded and took his hand away.

"Sorry." he said, his voice rough.

"This is going to sound really silly but, in a way I almost feel as if you owe me." They stood flush against each other. "Because back then, it almost seemed as if you were going to kiss me and then always decided not to." From the look on his face she could tell she had hit it right on.

"And I thought I was being cool about it." his smile was lopsided. "Kai, I'm afraid I've missed my chance." he looked old in that moment. " And I feel like maybe I've always been after you for the wrong reasons."

"What-"

"Trust me okay?" he understood the irony in his words. "Trust me when I ask you to stay away."

"No way. If you think-"

"Hey Sora! Get your ass out here!" Kairi spun around to see the door close and when her eyes settled on the person who closed it, she thought she was dreaming. A familiar head of red hair approached them and she looked at Sora, who was avoiding her eyes like mad. "Hey who's the chick?...Oh _fuck_."

Kairi watched him enter the kitchen, and for the life of her she couldn't remember his name, even though he'd told her many time to simply memorize it.

(A/N: Thanks for the support guys, I actually managed to get another chapter out! And I hope you all like it. This one is full of stuff, so tell me what you think. Till next time! Adios. I gotta head off to lovely lovely work now. XD)


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